"It was an amazing, incredible, uplifting experience for them all to grow their confidence that they belong in the competition," he said.

Returning to the competition this year, the Lions defeated Smithton 3-2, winning their first match in 1380 days, which was their last game at GNL level against City Marians.

News of their victory was well-received on social media, shared through the Greater Northern League's Facebook page and earning congratulations from 138-time Kookaburra and Tamar Churinga clubman Tim Deavin.

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The Launceston-based side finished their previous stint in the competition with a bang, winning three games in a last-month burst before a "lack of numbers and ready-made GNL players" saw them drop down to division two.

Since then, it's been a lot of hard work.

"Back in 2020, we got together about 30 past and present players, former stalwarts of the club and parents of current juniors and put together a plan to get the team up and running again this year," Richardson said.

"We knew that last year would be a development season, which was managed by one of our current GNL players Campbell Richardson in developing the juniors through the division two team.

"Then having a couple of our young fellas, Rob Partridge and Rohan John, coming back into the fold, who have been Tamar stalwarts since the under-14 junior competition.

"They were able to entice several of our players who we lost three or four years ago when the team dropped out, so it's really been fantastic to see them all get back into it and prove to themselves that they are still good enough to play in the league."

However, the club isn't stopping there with the hard work as they attempt to get their women's team back in the competition as well.

Dropping out in 2018, a year earlier than the men, Tamar Churinga joined forces with Launceston City in 2019 to ensure representation but since then, they've been limited to division two, three and junior competition.

Originally planning to rejoin next season, Richardson admitted that it may not happen until 2024.

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"Junior numbers, particularly across the ladies' side of the competition here in the North, are pretty light on in all clubs," he said.

"We have current plans in place to continue to develop and get that team back in, particularly through right now our under-14s and under-16s.

"Hopefully we'll have the same success in bringing back a few of our past players that are now playing for other clubs here in the North and North-West as we aim to grow the competition as a whole."

The GNL women's competition went from eight teams to six this season due to the withdrawals of Launceston City and Devonport.

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